


Lines

by TheCalligraphyEffect



Category: 1D - Fandom, Larry - Fandom, One Direction (Band)
Genre: 1D AU, 1d, AU, Closeted, Cute, Fluffy, Gay, Harry Styles - Freeform, Homo, Homosexuality, Louis Tomlinson - Freeform, Love, M/M, Maps, Pan - Freeform, Roadtrip, Romance, Secrets, Wanderlust, hl, larry - Freeform, larry au, larry fluff, larry smut, larry stylinson - Freeform, larry stylinson au, lines, one direction - Freeform, pansexuality, travelling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-21
Updated: 2015-11-21
Packaged: 2018-05-03 05:17:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5278097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheCalligraphyEffect/pseuds/TheCalligraphyEffect
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis William Tomlinson is none other than the life of every entourage and every family. A loveable rouge with good looks, an infectious laugh, and a reckless perspective with a sense of humor to match has just graduated from UCLA with a 3.75 grade point average and a degree in pharmaceutical medicine. With just a little under a quarter of a million dollars in his savings account, a highly envied, soon-to-be model girlfriend, and a large family awaiting his return to the United Kingdom in upper-class suburbia, it is no surprise that his announcement about his decision to take a spontaneous trip in America raised eyebrows at his graduation party. Nonetheless, Louis says his goodbyes, much to his parents' dismay, to proceed to find who he really is just stripped down to his silver 2002 Corolla, enough clothes and cash to make it through the trip, and lines on a map.</p><p>But unfortunately for Louis, lines on a map won't be enough to help him answer the questions he has about himself and guide him through the emotions he encounters upon befriending a bright-eyed boy from his home country.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lines

Prologue

 

_May 29th_

_Today marks the day. Mum is still trying to convince me to fly back with them. Maybe it's cos Pheebs and Daisy will miss me a lot. So will Evie. And Tyler. And Scott. And mum and Alan.. Alright, maybe cos everyone will miss me lots. Sounds conceited... Sorry. I'm excited though. I loved being in the states and can't wait to return and be on my own again. My own own... No girlfriend, no college mates, no parents, no lads. Just me. Me, this pocket book, and some travel stuff._

_I am hitting the states first. More, at least. I'm already in LA so I think I'm heading to Nevada. Sin City… It's May and I know northern Nevada isn't its prettiest in the summer, but I'm gonna go, skip the Vegas strip. It'll be nice, driving way up North and stopping along the way at the little Denny's and things. Meeting new people as well because Americans are so nice. Ecstatic._

_Louis_

 

Louis couldn't help finding it quite difficult to pack as the person he was most close to watched him pack his things. Her round, doll-like eyes that bore a striking color resemblance to his seemed to sear the skin of his back with their intense azure stare. He felt it was almost her way of telepathically communicating with him, further begging him to stay. And consequently, it worked. His own eyes were fixed on a folded, black Adidas sweatshirt but he could still envision his mother on her knees, pleading a fourth time for him to take her plane ticket offer and accompany her and his siblings on the flight back to the United States.

As close to his mother as he was, he couldn't part with the trip he had been planning for over a year. He had greater plans than those of going back to live with or around his family, jumping right on pursuing his medical career, being the way he had been all his life: constantly joining or surrounding others. By no means did he not enjoy it; he loved the gentle thrill he go from putting his heart and care into other people. Helping his mum raise his sisters was definitely an irreplacable accomplishment in his life that he would never take for granted. It was simply the idea of seeking more that Louis loved almost equally. What else can he accomplish, he often wondered. What more could he pull from what he knew of his life so far to make it change again? He was well aware there was a lot more to learn about himself, and he knew he could never do so by remaining stationary.

"And. . . You're sure this is what you want?" her soft voice questioned from behind him.

He smiled to himself at her seemingly incessant checking of his intentions. "Yes, mum, I'm sure. You're only going to make the bandaid stickier by asking, and it'll hurt way more once I rip it off," he mused.

"Louis," she chided, "the wound under the damned bandaid hasn't even healed yet, and you're ripping it off. It still hurts from when you left the first time."

"You're the one that always insisted I go to college," he countered rather impishly, a grin on his face as he turned to meet the bright blue eyes and the pouty countenance of his mother.

"Maybe I won't miss you at all," she giggled. "You are just a proper pain sometimes."

Louis gave his mum a dubious look and shook his head. "Good, then, that I'll be dealing with myself on this trip, yeah?"

"I suppose so." She smiled back and began to amble into the room he had lived in ever since he started attending UCLA, taking in the horrendously disorganized piles of clothes and toiletries. "You know that if you ever get lonely, you can always ring me up and ask for a plane ticket to Doncaster. Daisy and Phoebe certainly won't mind showing you lots of love to fill your love tank again."

He chuckled to himself upon hearing the phrase "love tank," it having been so long since he heard it. The imaginary, internal tank of his childhood would tend to empty whenever he or his mum felt he was sad or lonely. As it worked the same way for all his sisters as well, they would rely on each other to fill it using hugs or kisses, or whatever sorts of affection. "Don't worry. I think I'll hold up. I'm packing the girls' infinite supply of love right now," he told her, cupping the air and pretending to put it in his duffel bag.

She shifted her feet and folded her arms. Louis could tell she was still disapproving of his entire trip despite the soft smile she held onto her face. Seeing as he was always surrounded by people – many people – throughout his life, he couldn't blame her for being skeptical about him suddenly leaving to be alone. In her shoes, he wouldn't understand what he wanted and why either.

"I'll be back in December," he did his best to console her. "Probably with a beard and lots of Poptarts." When she was pregnant with Doris and Ernest, his two youngest step-siblings, she would ask Louis to ship her dozens of the sugary pastries that were sold nationally through the US but not through Britain. Louis would comply, and even after the twins' birth, she couldn't get enough of them.

"Trying to bribe me with Poptarts, are you?"

He let out a loud laugh that shook his body before laying his hand over his heart. "Mum, I would never."

"Right, and you'll be back in December because your birthday, I assume?"

"No, for Jesus's birthday. I heard he's a swell guy. I might as well go to his party for kicks," he shrugged.

Louis's mum's shoulders dropped and her features softened into something more languishing. Without any warning, she opened her arms and beckoned him to come forward to rest between them, squeezing him with all her might with one and cupping the back of his head with her other small hand. She pressed her face into the sturdiness of his shoulder, hoping she would be able to recall what hugging such an important piece of herself would feel like over the course of the following months in his absence. "I'll miss you so much, my baby. My one and only adult son," she breathed tremulously. "I love you with all of my heart."

Louis held his mum tightly and began to rub her back nearly frantically once he felt a warm tear soak through the thin fabric of his cotton shirt. "Don't cry,mum," he murmured. "I'll call you always– you and the girls. I'll miss all of you so much. But I'll be alright as well, yeah?" He felt her nod as much as she could against his shoulder before he began to pull apart, tucking in his chin to look down at her. "Don't cry on me," he repeated but lovingly. "I don't have enough clean clothes as it is."

His mum let out a feeble laugh that was partially caught in her throat once she snivelled, but then she nodded her head. "Okay, okay. . . I'm done," she decided, swiping her fingertips underneath her eyes to rid of anymore moisture.

"Good," he stated. "Now, I need you to put your poker face on because the last thing either of us want or need is the other Tomlinson girls crying in heaps on the floor."

"You've got it," she smiled. She remained true to her promise as she gathered herself and picked up her purse and suitcase at the doorway of his bedroom. Her eyes and cheeks were still blotchy but other than that, Louis was sure that no one else would be able to tell she'd been crying. "Stay safe, and return to me just the way you left."

"I can't make any promises," Louis grinned and waved his mother off after blowing a kiss, his heart filling itself with enough excitement to shroud the possibility of missing his family.


End file.
